The Elite Forum
The Big Three Plus One => General Chat => Topic started by: DYM on March 14, 2018, 11:42:51 am
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Inspired by the 'Favorite Work of Literature' thread in TGC (why is it even there?), I thought it would be a GREAT idea to make a thread where you share with others what books you are reading, what you think of them, and so on.
This is what I am currently reading:
CSS: The Missing Manual, 4th Edition
http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920036357.do
Excellent book for front-end developers and web designers. Contains a lot of nifty tricks. You don't know CSS until you've read & practiced this amazing book.
Post away!
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The CSS book sounds interesting. I only know enough CSS to limp my way along in formatting epubs.
Currently reading? Hooboy.
The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth (brilliant, and I thought I was good at math but I can't process a tenth of the stuff in here)
Linear Algebra and its Applications by Gilbert Strang (only "okay" so far)
The Road to Serfdom by FA Hayek (brilliant critique of socialism while recognizing that the free market cannot solve all problems)
The Path to Power by Robert Caro (biography of the ruthless Lyndon B. Johnson and hands down one of the best books I've ever read)
The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov (I like Asimov's take on how technology affects behavior and vice versa, plus I needed some light reading)
The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary (I loved the movie with Alec Guiness and the book is excellent too. Extremely funny and insightful into the disease that is being an artist).
My goals for books to finish this year include:
The Idea Factory: The History of Bell Labs
The Idiot by Dostoyevsky
The Last Lion: Winston Churchill by Manchester
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Marguerite de Valois by Alexander Dumas
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made by Eugene Genovese
The Three-Body Problem (sci-fi that won a Hugo a couple years ago)
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Getting there. So far I'm ahead of schedule.
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Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer
It's a rewrite of Twilight but all the character's sexes are switched :afro:
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Atlas Shrugged. Has Anyone else read it?
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I recently finished up the 6th book of The Expanse, a space-based science fiction series. This isn't my favorite subgenre but I have done several other similar works and it really stands up nicely. I almost want to call it "Game of Thrones in space" but it can't quite be reduced so simply. There are many similarities, though. The authors have impressed me with both their writing style and the plot. I'm often left grinning over a particularly nice line and the plot has taken many pleasantly surprising turns. There has been a bit of a POV explosion in the last book I read, but I'm comforted by the knowledge that they can just blow up a bunch of ships sometime if they can't figure out how to wind down the story. (Meanwhile, in Santa Fe.....)
My goals for books to finish before I bother with anything else:
The Three-Body Problem (sci-fi that won a Hugo a couple years ago)
Fixed that for you.
Atlas Shrugged. Has Anyone else read it?
Not me, sir.
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Read Anthem if you get a chance. It's a nice way to get into Ayn Rand.
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Ha, okay, I'll get on Three-Body Problem soon. I'm somewhat leery of Hugo winners though, since I had quite a disappointment with Ancillary Justice. I do have The Fifth Season to read some time (individual books in the series have won a couple of Hugos I believe), but I'm a bit leery of that too. I'm suspicious that some of the books win not for quality, but for politics.
I also have Leviathan Wakes on my list, probably for next year.
Ignominious: I've read Atlas Shrugged and Anthem.
The latter was decent but I've read enough dystopian books that I found it a bit middling. Atlas Shrugged on the other hand...wow, such an uneven book. It had incredible moments, and then some real piles of poo. Her writing was a bit stiff but had a raw potency that kept me interested. In the end I don't think I'd recommend it but I'm glad I read it. I have issues with a good bit of Rand's philosophy and I think it's clear she never had any children herself, because she seemed to think they were capable of being impartial, rational creatures, and that just ain't true :D
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By the way, I track all I read on Goodreads, and for the last several years have made a habit of writing up at least a few thoughts on each book:
https://www.goodreads.com/LoganW
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1) celeste
2) oscar neimeyer greatest works
3) medium articles on cheAp, undervalued chinese crypto
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A history of the world in twelve maps by Jerry Brotton.
A fascinating romp through thousands of years of global history that details the creation of 12 maps from the ancient Greeks to Google maps. Far more than just some dry account of maps, it's a rich analysis of the settings and cultures which created them - "A world view gives rise to a world map; but the world map in turn defines the culture's view of the world." Recommended to anyone interesting.
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Recommended to anyone interesting.
Darn. Guess it's not for me then.
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does it include the breath of the wild map?
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Currently reading through Hobbit/Lord of the Rings with my kids, ages 7 and 5. Their first time through, my fourth.
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My oldest is 6 but I'm looking forward to that too Shawn. I read quite a bit to the kids and think they will really enjoy it in a year or two. They know nothing about Lord of the Rings or Star Wars (I've intentionally saved it for when they will really "get" it all) so we're going to have some really nice first time experiences in a bit :)
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Fahrenheit 451
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David and Goliath-Malcolm Gladwell
An Introduction to Error Analysis-John R. Taylor
Dream Team-Jack McCallum
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My oldest is 6 but I'm looking forward to that too Shawn. I read quite a bit to the kids and think they will really enjoy it in a year or two. They know nothing about Lord of the Rings or Star Wars (I've intentionally saved it for when they will really "get" it all) so we're going to have some really nice first time experiences in a bit :)
Yeah it’s great. Talking about themes and characters and the decisions that they are making is fun. My kids are remembering back to previous sections in the books and it surprises me a bit. It’s wonderful reading these types of stories to them.
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Currently reading through Hobbit/Lord of the Rings with my kids, ages 7 and 5. Their first time through, my fourth.
That's awesome mate.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3020160
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Haven't really read anything in a while so I thought I'd jump into King's Dark Tower series
Just a little light reading :nesquik:
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3020160
Stellar list of books there. Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all-time favourites.
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I'm currently reading Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming (should sound familiar) great 007 novel, I recommend it highly!